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Arc 1: The Water's Rise
The Infinite Watch storyline begins at Mirtul the 8th (May). The year is 1479 by Dale Reckoning, placing it 96 years after the events of the Spellplague. The account of events starts in the first hours of the day, in the village of Crestpoint, in Akanul. Chapter 1: Rage of the Seas *Kor'ro and his comrades meet Jero the Sun Elf in a remote valley and then split out to survey the surrounding areas for Ilithid signs. Valyra meets Morewine Killick at Crestpoint village. Later in the day, Eldrim Kharadh and Kor'ro also arrive there. *The group walks in and around the village, resting, eating and waiting for Jero. Valyra met a Sea Kin while underwater. *During the night, the group is the victim of an assault by a group of black-clad Humans. During the combat, a terrible earthquake of significant magnitude shook the place, and the place came tumbling down into the ground. The quake stopped and the Point of Balance had an ugly landing someplace underground, where the group managed to finish off the invaders. The group collected a ring with a black gem from a corpse and got out of the building. *The group explored an underground ruin, that resembled a strangely built temple. Within a few rooms with they found some statues of Human warriors, a spellscarred young black drake, a room with a chest made of bone and a mirror that reflected a hooded old man interacting with the chest, a Sea Elf baby, and a final closed gate. The whole place was rigged with soiled water. On that gate a metallic symbol hang and on it was written: My guise is the nameless I'm wider than life Through grey I ascend to soak you in strife. *Through the mirror, they were in the same place but different. The statues were also their own, they found a few hanging corpses, a drider that suffered from memory loss, and on a plateau that overlooked a strange, frozen in time, milky vista, they met with a Blue Merchant. *A creature believed to be a Goblin talked telepathicaly to Morewine through the ring and asked them to come down and help. *Solving a simple riddlish mechanism, they opened the last door in both versions of the place. Larimas was found inside, in two different ways; both healthy and talkative and tortured and mad. He told them that he is imprisoned there by her and that he wants out. The party agreed to find and reverse the binds that held him; it consists of a ritual called Abyssal Prison and a component, a drop of Minotaur's blood. *The group made a deal with the Blue Merchant for a way out of this place. The merchant took Morewine's memories of his birth in exchange for information and Valyra made a deal that she would find and deliver a vaguely described ("you will know when you see it, and I will know as well") to him, once back on the surface. *Agreed, the merchant invited them to walk into his spread open robe and they found themselves in a market full of these merchants, filled with carts, goods, animals and sights of all kinds. Eldrim purchased a book on the Seldarine (Elven pantheon) and Valyra got a magical eye. Using a blackwood wagon they flew out of this place and journeyed through planes; a milky white or dark sea of space, a place of cogs and levers (where they switched wagons and also spotted another one with passengers), an exaggerated lush green forest and, finally, back on the fields of Faerun, close to Crestpoint. Chapter 2: Descend *The group finds the village nearly ruined, a huge gap going underground where most of the buildings once stood, and about 50 remaining Genasi holed up in the largest house. They informed them of dark things roaming the perimeter at night and ask them to go down in the gap, to locate any surviving Genasi. Valyra delivered the baby to a couple Sea Kin in the water, and they took it and disappeared in the depths. *The group moves down and find the broken ruins deep in the earth, along with many dead. They kept moving in to find the stone walls changed into something else, much like amber. The group overcame a few shadow-like creatures and reached a strange maze. *Within the maze they found and talked with a Galeb-Dur, a number of similar waterfalls, and a sarcophagus with a carved old knight on it, leading into steps toward an underground lake. *Within the maze they also found a young, female Watersoul Genasi with amnesia. She had a tiny hole on the top of her head and she was scared of Morewine. Not doing much, they exited the maze and returned to Crestpoint where they delivered the girl. There they saw the shady roamers at night, resembling the outline of a four-legged predator, much like a lion or a wolf. *They also found a strange cobblestone hovering half-a-foot above ground, around the rim of the gap. Through search, they found more and more, forming a path toward the north. Following them, they located a hidden place; a circle of six menirs surrounded by trees and a flock of ravens. Each menir had a a carving of a raven on it. Behind each menir, the corpse or skeleton of a raven was buried in the earth. At dusk a naked, fat woman appered within, surveying the area and replacing the skeletal ravens with fresh corpses. *The woman was named Martha and she was a Hag from Arvandor, sent here with her five sisters to do work. She told them of Olga, one of the sisters, who could help with Morewine's armor, also that she is responsible of keeping the portal open, of the Seldarine and how they attempt to fight a war here and clear a dark alliance among evil gods and demons. She told them that Olga is hidden behind a veil of hers, and that if Morewine's seed was in her, she would tell them what to do. *Morewine accepted eventually to join with her and the two possibly teleported to Arvandor where they coupled twice, until Martha was satisfied. Returning, she told them they need to die in the maze, to meet Olga. *The group returned to the maze and Morewine had a discussion with an unidentified being by a waterfall. Morewine and Valyra then jumped in to their deaths. They both woke up on a dark shore with a number of tiny, bizarre-looking creatures. These ones guided them toward the center of an island and a cave lab, where they met Olga. She removed Morewine's cursed armor by killing him three times. All he wore crumbled to ash. Valyra informed Olga of Martha's coupling and the two left by drinking a potion. *They regained consciousness by the lake under the tomb in the maze, where Eldrim found them. They moved back to the menir circle to find that Martha was slain and her skin adorned one of the menirs. *They headed back to the village, informed them of what happened, and saw the villagers where less rude and close-minded. Tila (the village's spokeswoman) told them they planned to collect themselves and head to Edierva, the closest city to the southwest. *The group also moved toward the city, to find more answers and equipment. Chapter 3: Throat of Fire *On the way to Edierva, the group saw signs of old ambushes. At night also, Morewine saw visions of an old robed man just out of view, and a boulder with a crack and a man's carving. Under that boulder he discovered a silver disk with a symbol he did not recognise. *The group entered the city. Kor'ro informed them of one of his comrades that joined a local group to explore the nearby ruins of Galain, an old Chessentan town. The group partly explored the city, met a dwarf, ate and slept at an inn, learned of the Goblin threat that hails from Galain to the trade routes, and found out from a wizard that held shop there that he recalled seeing the symbol on the silver disk at the capital. *The group left for the old city. On the way, they killed and drove off a number of Goblins raiding a toppled wagon. *They found the gate, soiled with graphic vanadlisms of Goblin nature, and surrounded by ruined buildings of Human architecture. At the gate, they killed a group of Goblin guards that tried to stop them. *Within, they discovered signs of Genasi bodies, coated in slime. Also, pools of fresh blood were found, something they linked to some kind of curse by evil gods. *After a tough fight with a group of Goblins and an Ooze, the group met Thariokk. He was the old clan's chieftain who helped them get some rest and informed them of the situation here, his downfall and the change he feels around Akanul. He mentioned Maglubiyet and also said that he too met a Blue Merchant, who told him of gods awakening in Akanul in the near future. Thariokk's decision was to flee Akanul with as many Goblins as he can, or if need be, alone. *The group moved further in the next morning, found the chieftain's location who was a Fire Genasi named Verdok, and managed to slay him and all his bodyguards. Kor'ro died in the battle. They discovered a magic fountain of lava, some items, and an onyx cylinder letter. *When the cylinder came in touch with fire, it projected an ecrypted message, and the group managed to read it: "Sparkbringer Verdok, The uproar pleases the unfathomable greatly. Discord will send the vermin running and the strike shall bend with ease. Your work opened the path and oblivion touches the minds of the lost. Bring your spark to the blazer in Edierva. Sparks shall be set anew. Of bold oblivion fires find you. Unity breeds under the glory of the queen." *Leaving the location, they had a short meeting with Thariokk, who they decided to allow him to live. He thanked them and told them he considers them friends for what they did. When they asked him whether he will now live in peace, he answered there can be no peace for he will always battle with Orcs and other fell creatures. Chapter 4: Oblivion *The group traveled back to Edierva, to find the city locked down during their night arrival. They spoke with the Headguard in the surrounding village who informed them that there was a murder and the gates were closed till morning time. They gave up Verdok's head and Golbin ears, told him of what happened, and received their just reward. The Headguard told him he didn't trust them but they did what the city offered a reward for. *They spent the night at the nameless village inn, where they met the watersoul owner Allik and his Half-elf assistant. They spoke about the city and the news with the friendly owner, until they realised the meat they had on their plate was of Sea Elf. Allik explained he also does not agree with that practice, but since the Sea Elves were declared traitors to Akanul by the Queen, the folk hate them and some of them indulge in darker punishments. He was just an intermidiate. *Eldrim Kharadh stormed into the Headguard's office to complain about this fact, but he got nothing out of it. In rage and shock, he left the city for the outskirts were he spent his hours in animal form. *Valyra and Morewine returned to the inn and noticed an empty table with a pinch of water on it, and an elaborate armor standing next to it. When Allik was asked he told them someone died there and that honors that person. Valyra saw a worm crawling around the armor, which Morewine killed and turned to ash, and also signs of possibly red, dry blood on the plates. *At night they slept in. *The next day the gates remained closed until noon. Folk talked about the murder of the Stewart of the city, another watersoul. Morewine took Kor'ro's body to the wizard in the city and asked him to cast the Raise Dead ritual from the scroll, and also any information on a black worm that turned to ash they discovered on the armor back at the inn. The wizard agreed to a price and told him to come back the next morning. *Valyra went through the market portal down to the docks and asked around about the Sea Elf meat. They told her that they receive this from the Sea Kin in exchange for gold and trinkets. *Come nightfall, they slept once more at the inn, where the two experienced a vivid and multi-layered dream. They saw female Genasi bodies within the inn's heavily locked rooms, mutilated from the abdomen down. The armor and a double-bladed sword were missing from the common room. A shadow lurked outside of Morewine's window. Once, an old man replaced him or was found in Valyra's room. The city was on fire and the surrounding area beyond the village was a broken wasteland with a heavy clouded sky that formed faced that rained blood. They discovered a voice that spoke to them, referring to itself as "me". The voice kept insisting on the fact that they see what they want to see and that the voice is not here to help, but merely to narrate. Through a trapdoor in the kitchen, they saw Allik raping the decayed body of his mother and the armor moving about, watching. Also, another male watersoul's body was found there. Following that cellar, they saw an old woman in black in a room full of webs, weaving cloth. In the next cellar, they saw an old woman in white surrounded by a garden, tearing cloth apart. Leaving that place, they returned to their rooms. *The next day they woke up and had a conversation with Allik. He told them of Verdok's past, and his mother the Queen's sword, how he had to kill her with that double-bladed sword. He admited he killed the Stewart and he told them he fights for a revolution. He aksed the two to go fetch Eldrim and meet him in the cellar at night, when the inn was empty. *On the woods outside the city, they met Eldrim and talked him into returing at night with them. Valyra encounters an apparently intelligent red fox while hunting. The fox follows her around until it moved next to Morewine while he was praying and a gust of wind rose around them, lifting the animal a few inches from the ground. During that time, a similar black worm as the one back at the inn flew down with the wind onto Morewine's face, then the wind stopped. *Later on they headed back to the city. They indeed visited the inn that was packed. Morewine strolled around the village, saw a Firesoul guard of tremendous size leading a patrol, and picked up Kor'ro who was alive but dazed. When the inn was about to close, the group moved into the kitchen. *Allik met them there and took them down into the cellar with him and a few moments later the Half-elf assistant spoke through the trapdoor and brought Jero. The Elf sat down with them and through conversation the fact was revealed that it was not truly Jero before them but Olga who took his guise. She said that the current whereabouts of Jero were unknown, and that also this would be the last time she mingled with the group, which she did as a help and a warning. She informed Morewine that if he wishes to understand and control Arhiod, the realm that haunts him, he is looking down a very difficult path. Olga gave them a general layout of the situation in Akanul, told them of the power groups of the nation, and explained her neutrality towards all that (beyond her mission). *When the talk was done, the group woke up in the rooms on the upper floor. They saw a wall of fire cirling the outskirts of the village and closing in toward the city. The group rushed out of their rooms to see Allik confronting the headguard and his patrol. Allik told the headguard to "take care of her", kneeled before him and had his throat cut. A battle begun between the group and the guards, which resulted to the headguard's death. The remaining few soldiers surrendered and the group stormed out of the inn to find the city in riot. Genasi folk fought soldiers on the streets and one of those Genasi, a Watersoul, saw Morewine and urged him and his group to follow her and escape. *The woman took them to the wizard's store, where the mage took them in and led them back towards a hidden room. Within, a circle of symbols enclosed a short mound of dirt and grass, flowers. The mage cast a ritual, asked them all to step on the dirt, and they were teleported to a different location. *The two introduced themselves as Marrie and Ravras. The woman is part of the group Valyra once got in contact with, and Ravras is simply a curious scholar who aids them when it so happens. He informs them that they used a portal out of the city and Faerun for that matter, and that now they are in Ysgard, also known as the Gates of the Moon, home to godesses such as Selune, Sune and Tymora. Specifically, their location is a dominion called the Great Wheel, which is the realm of Tymora. The place appears to be great earthmotes that hover in a silvery sea of infinity. *Marrie discusses her worries on procreation and ends up making love to Morewine. Ravras tells them that they needs to wait on this strange island for the bridges to rise and connect them with other motes in this realm, as they due on their own time.